Reading: John 3-4, Psalm 104

One of the big questions facing the early church was how to be a community of both Jews and Gentiles. Up to that point, the returned exiles living in Judea had largely maintained their national identity by separating from the people around them. Remember the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah and the extreme measures they went to in order to maintain the purity of their people? The people of Jesus’ day were the descendants of those people, both by blood and by action. This will come up throughout the New Testament epistles, as the Jewish Christians begin to grapple with the new reality that the Kingdom of God is for everyone, and the Gentile Christians with the reality that their salvation came through this odd and exclusive little people centered in Jerusalem.

John begins to set these groups in contrast in today’s reading. There is a great deal going on the conversations with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Royal Official with the dying son. I’m not going to try and cover everything. On the other hand, I am pretty convinced that the ordering of the stories John tells in his gospel are intentional and designed to tell a story of their own. So that is where I am going to look. These chapters also contain what is likely the most famous verse in the Bible, which I think is at times misunderstood because of the oddities of the English language. So I’ll talk about that because I am a nerd and like those sorts of things.

First we have this story about Nicodemus, who we are told is a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. He comes to Jesus at night and confesses that we (apparently he had compatriots) know you have come from God as a teacher because of the signs and miracles Jesus has been about. Jesus wastes no time in deeply confusing Nicodemus by telling him that unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus doesn’t get the whole born again thing, and Jesus continues to explain it in terms of new life and new creation. He uses images from the history of Israel- God breathing spirit into humans, Moses lifting up the snake in the desert- to explain to this cultural insider that God will make all things new, starting with your heart. Then he drops a bombshell, which is the most famous verse in the Bible. Often this is read, “God loved the world so much he gave his only Son…” This is not the point Jesus is making here. There is no “so much” in the sentence. It actually says “God loved the world in this way: He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The various definitions of the English word “so” has led to this confusion. Why does it matter? Because the whole point of what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus is that he, Jesus, is the fulfillment of the Story of the Hebrew Scriptures. Though it is certainly true that God loves the world, it is not the focus of what Jesus is saying. The focus is the means by which God expresses his love to the world. And that means is Jesus himself. He is the way that God loves the world, and it is through him that a new kind of life comes to humanity.

After the conversation with Nicodemus, we get an aside with John the Baptist, who confirms that Jesus is the one everyone should be looking to. He points to Jesus as the way to eternal life, and sets up a contrast of his own. He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides in him. John doesn’t leave a lot of room for confusion here. Following Jesus is the way to eternal life. Not following Jesus is the way to the wrath of God.

Jesus leaves his conversation with Nicodemus, the consummate insider, and has a conversation with a Samaritan woman, quite possibly of questionable morals. John is setting up an extreme contrast. A Samaritan woman of questionable morals is probably as far from Nicodemus as one can get in that day and time. She is the last person one would expect a Jewish rabbi to interact with. But Jesus does. He also engages her on her own terms. When he spoke to Nicodemus, Jesus used the history of Israel and his understanding (or lack thereof) of how God plans to save the world. When he speaks to this woman, he talks about drawing water from a well. This conversation sparks great interest among her people, and a bunch of Samaritans believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

John still isn’t done with his contrasts. He now tells us about how Jesus healed the son of a Royal Official. At the time the region was ruled by Herod Antipas, who was an Edomite. By pulling an official of his court into the Story, John is showing us the breadth of Jesus mission. He has spoken of the kingdom to an insider, an outsider, and now an outright enemy. Herod and his court were considered deeply traitorous by many Jews, and for good reason. Though they were technically relatives of the people of Israel, they bought Roman imperial rule hook, line, and sinker. And yet, Jesus heals this man’s son.

I believe John is clarifying the universal message of Jesus. He is telling us that the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims is for everyone, everywhere. He is at the same time tying the Kingdom to the King. The means by which God shows love to the world and ushers in a new creation is nothing less that Jesus himself. As Matthew and Mark emphasized in their own way, John wishes his readers to understand that Jesus is the New Creation, he is the Temple, he is the way to eternal life. And that way is open to all who believe.